When the NOOK Color was first released, it was relatively easy to root. That’s because Barnes & Noble didn’t notice that people were trying to root the device. By the time the NOOK Tablet came out, though, Barnes & Noble had taken notice and built anti-rooting technology into the NOOK Color. But the NOOK Tablet was left alone and was still relatively easy to root.
All that changed in late 2011 and early 2012, however. That’s when Barnes & Noble updated the operating system of both the NOOK Tablet and the NOOK Color to version 1.41. That update gave the NOOK Color new features, making it work much more like the NOOK Tablet. But it also added anti-rooting features to both devices. Since all NOOKs receive automatic updates, there’s a very good likelihood that your NOOK uses version 1.41 or later of the operating system as you read this, which makes it difficult to root.
To check which software version you have, press the NOOK button, tap Settings→Device Info→About Your NOOK, and on the screen that appears, look in the “Software version” section. That tells you what version of the NOOK software you have.
Never underestimate the creativity of tinkerers who love mucking around with hardware and software, though, because by early in 2012, they had come up with several different ways to root the NOOK Color and the NOOK Tablet.
This book doesn’t cover in precise detail how to root the NOOK’s built-in flash memory. On the Internet, many people have posted ways to root the NOOK’s built-in flash memory; however, the instructions are not always clearly explained and don’t always work. In addition, they require that you download software and files online, and by the time you read this, those files many no longer exist (and downloading software from a source you don’t know is always risky). And every time the NOOK software is updated, the hackers have to start over and find new ways to root it. You can search the Web for NOOK Tablet rooting and see what comes up, but you’re taking your chances.
Instead, this chapter focuses on the simpler and safer way of rooting your NOOK Color or NOOK Tablet—using a microSD card. It also shows you how to get started with the Android Market, which is presumably the reason you wanted to root your NOOK in the first place. If you insist on trying to root the NOOK’s built-in flash memory, the end of the chapter gives the general steps for rooting (and unrooting) your NOOK via this method.